Alcohol, drug misuse and suicide attempts: unrecognised causes of out of hospital cardiac arrests admitted to intensive care units.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the contribution of alcohol, drug abuse and suicide attempts to out of hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) who are admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU).


METHODS
Retrospective review of all OHCA admitted to the ICU over a 2-year period.


RESULTS
There were 26 OHCA. Six patients survived, all of whom had a cardiac aetiology for their arrest. Ten patients arrested due to external factors (drug misuse n = 4, alcohol excess n = 1, suicide attempts n = 4 and accidental choking n = 1). All of the patients who arrested secondary to external factors were young (37.2 +/- 13.58 years), 90% were male and all died in hospital. All of the cases of drug misuse involved cocaine.


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol, drug misuse and suicide attempts contribute significantly to the number of OHCA which are admitted to ICU. Moreover, cocaine usage has contributed to a number of OHCA in our study.
McLaughlin
A M
AM
Department of Intensive Care, Adelaide & Meath Hospital incorporating The National Children's Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland. annemmclaughlin@gmail.com
Hardt
J
J
McKay
A P
AP
Fitzpatrick
G J
GJ
Donnelly
M B
MB
D018806:APACHE; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*